Plant a dwarf cv of a sugar maple and love the fall color and know it's a native plant. Smoke trees also give purple fall color (if that's the color you want)..and they're also native.

The callery pears are invasive in our state and truly should be banned from being planted.

Here is a link that might be useful: Apollo dwarf Sugar Maple

But they callery is soooo pretty. Do they make a dwarf bradford?

hmmm
that maple might actually work. but im not sure it can replace the callery in my mind.

hmmm and it has the triangular structure aswell.
Im really liking this tree......

Well as I said, smoke tree has fabulous fall color (linked).

There's a ton of things that have similar advantages and few to none of the disadvantages of a callery pear. Those are just two that come to mind. Frankly, I prefer a native dogwood to a callery pear too...beautiful blooms (shape) vs just the white mass of a fruit tree, great red/purple fall color, seeds for the birds (and a squirrel is after mine right now).

Undoubtedly something else will occur to other readers and they'll suggest too....keep an open mind.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:431119}}

This post was edited by dbarron on Wed, Sep 17, 14 at 11:13

If you search "arkansas arboretum" on the web multiple different facilities come up, perhaps one ~near you has trees on display that you would like - and are kinds that are on the market.

An excellent suggestion and if he were to visit during the next month or two, has a chance of seeing what autumn color looks like (only the very earliest like dogwoods are starting to color now).

hope you like the smell of dirty wet gym clothes in a gym bag.. in the trunk for a month ...

because that is what the flowers smell like for a week or so in spring ...

and you will get pears... tiny little ones that will start seeding themselves around the yard ...

you can do so much better.. and its so easy ...

in general.. pear trees are HUGE .. a 30 footer.. probably is a dwarf ...

you can ask fruit questions.. in the fruit forum ... as that is specialized knowledge.. and you will find experts in such.. there ....

BTW ... you dont mention if the pear will fall on your house ... WHEN it fails ... not IF ...

ken

ken

Im smart enought to plant a tree that has the possibility of falling away from my house.

Otherwise, it would go in the front yard.

But the Apollo Sugar Maple is really appealling to me.

I just cant seem to find a nersury online that will ship it.
Maybe i can find it locally here in Arkansas.

I CAN find one.

A little more about Acer saccharum Apollo (r) - Columnar Sugar Maple Barrett Cole
To ONLY 10' wide and 25' tall, this special narrowly-pyramidal selection brings sugar maple' s bright yellow-orange-red fall colors to the small yard or tight spot. Sun/Med

Here is a link that might be useful: Forestfarm at Pacifica

Can someone advise me on what to do?
Sure, plant a 'Little Gem' Magnolia. This is a current pic from the Sussex County Courthouse in Delaware. In full bloom with lots of flowers to come. This is a smallish, compact selection. Forget the pears and go with a magnolia.
{{gwi:431123}}

If you're willing to plant small, MrMaple has a couple selections of columnar sugar maples. I believe one of which is Reba which may be better suited for your area.

http://www.jfschmidt.com/introductions/belletower/index.html

I do like Apollo though, one of my favorite plants.

Wonder whether a fastigiate European hornbeam would do well in your area?

Richard.

Here is a link that might be useful: Info. on the tree

Out here 'Little Gem' breaks under snow loads. It also often has a mildew problem that makes it gaunt. It is also less hardy than many M. grandiflora cultivars. These days there are superior choices on the market.

Bradford clones here have stinky flowers and unreliable fall color here. They also have odd offsprings that pop uo all over the woodlines and highway right of ways.

Serviceberry has some upright cultivars. They flower and have attractive fruit.

The invasiveness of Callery pear alone absolutely rules it out as a suitable landscape plant...now and for all time. Yes, I know well-educated individuals who, in positions of authority, continue to plant these things. I know of one guy-a city forester right on the obrder between my state and that to the south- who is mad about these things. Favorite street trees he says. This is a slow-motion disaster in the works. We shouldn't have to have the problem smack us in the forehead before we learn from our neighbors to the south and east....these ornamental pears simply cannot be justified in today's reality. Very invasive plant-it should no longer be being sold.

+oM

"Serviceberry has some upright cultivars. They flower and have attractive fruit."

Not to mention very tasty fruit! (and colorful fall foliage)

I have a 30+ year old Bradford Pear on my land. I have never had any problems with it. It produces a lot of small 2"-3" pears that I use to make wine and jelly with in the Fall. It is a good food source for wildlife.
If you would like some seeds you can seed me a SASE and I will send you some. You can email me if you want them.
Kathy J.

KJ.
If your tree is making 2-3 INCH diameter pears, it's NOT a 'Bradford'. Typical callery pear(Bradford and its ilk) fruit is about 1 CENTIMETER (1/2 inch) in diameter.

Sounds lmore like a seckel pear, great fruit and sweet, just small. An ex built a horse corral around my mature seckel pears and told me they wouldn't bother them. Hah.........girdled them and killed them dead'n doornails. Never seen a Bradford pear with fruit any higher quality than hard, old marbles.

how about the amazing American smoketree....underplanted, relatively small, and fabulous fall color.

That is our native smoketree? Impressive.

Exactly^. there're just so many better options than dumb old invasive Callery pear.

+oM

Nice!
While we're there...anybody got a recommendation on a good source for American smoketree? I planted one 15 yrs or so ago, grew well for about 3 years, then just wilted & died. Need to put in another one or two, but haven't looked for availability any time recently.

www.pineridgegardens.com has them and I highly recommend their stock.

I received mine from ForestFarm and either they were 2' rooted cuttings or this species flowers at an incredibly early age. My 2 specimens have grown distinctly different. The one that initially flowered when I bought it has grown about 5' in 3 years while the other that never flowered has grown about 1' in 3 years. Fall color was absent this year as an early freeze toasted the leaves before they turned.

Alabama Forestry Commission
AFC's Treasured Forrest Mag. Has an article in their latest mag.
' The Ugly Truth About a Pretty Tree.'
Might want to read it
ðÂÂÂ.
Might help

here's the link to the bradford pear article

Here is a link that might be useful: The Ugly Truth About a Pretty Tree

Thanks Sam md
Newbie
Josephene

sorry for reviving this old thread but, I had too......

I agree they are pretty. Bradford's won't produce fruit. My father had one, planted it back in the yard (2 acres) where it couldn't hit anything if it split/fell, pruned it heavily each year to encourage the better branching, and it was a gorgeous tree that lived about 15 years until it finally fell over.

And the fruit comes up everywhere in suitable habitat (like the upper South). Trash trees!

Why can't you plant a cherry tree? Or crabapple?

You know Asian pears (the edible kind) can be very ornamental themselves.

Had a tree near the side entrance to the house that when it was in bloom smelled like something had died there. Visitors would remark about it.

Lots of callerys around here, never noticed anything near to the aroma of my tree. Maybe because the pears here bloom in March when it's still rather cool, my tree bloomed in late April-early May, when it can be quite warm. My tree was a hawthorn. I've since removed it, but not because of the smell.

cherry trees and crabapples have to many disease problems. The ultimate alternative is eastern redbud 'royal white'.

Even if it wasn't for the less-than-pleasant smell, I still don't think Callery pears are particular attractive. The blossoms are so tiny, kind of bland and boring. There are other beautiful ornamental flowering trees, but most of them have more vulnerability to disease, and some of them might not grow well in your climate.

Bradford pears are very vigorous growers, and that's why you see so many planted in Southern California; they are low-maintenance and can easily grow in hot semi-dry conditions. It's in hot humid areas that they become invasive. (a lot of the landscape species widely planted in Southern California because of their survivability would be invasive and/or take over in other warm climates that have more water)

Eastern Redbud is a small, native understory tree. It grows well in many climates and there are about 10 different cultivars. There are also other redbuds that grow better in the western US

Of course the eastern redbud is a relatively short-lived tree that tends to develop poor branch crotches and fall apart at an early age. It's not a tree that I usually recommend for the typical home landscape.

Caldwell, by "there are about 10 different cultivars", are you talking about at one particular nursery, or something? There are many more different cultivars available.

When I say there are about 10 different cultivars, I mean commonly used and recognised such as royal white, hearts of gold, forest pansy, ruby falls etc. I only carry the generic cercis canadensis so I have no experience with these other cultivars. Eastern Redbud (when allowed to grow in it's natural multi-trunk form) gets larger and is weaker than one trained to a single trunk at an early age. When trained to a single trunk and with proper subordinate pruning practices, your tree ca live up to 60 years. They are only short lived if you compare them to things like white oak and sugar maples. They are great trees and I would like to see them used more in the landscape.

Yes, if you are willing to "train" them, then you can get a much better formed tree. Proper pruning and the use of limb spreaders can go a long way. The problem is that most people don't have the knowledge or time to do that. A lot of the young redbud trees available at the big box stores are already a real mess before you get them. I have seen some at higher end nurseries that have a better form due to early training.

I bought one at lowes this year. Got a good deal, leader branch defoliated. I removed the dead leader and I am now training a new one.